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CAMPAIGN 2012

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It wasn’t just political offices Miami-Dade County voters had to evaluate during Tuesday’s election. They made their voices heard on a variety of proposed amendments to the Miami-Dade County Charter.

The most talked about amendment dealt with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Voters were asked to approve a $1.2 billion general obligation bond that would pay for construction and modernization in public schools in the county.

Superintendent Alberto Cavahlo said just before 10 p.m. that voters overwhelmingly approved the bond measure. Officially, with 37 percent of the vote counted, 68 percent of Miami-Dade voters approved the measure, but no official call had been made outside of Carvahlo’s claim.

According to the school board, the bond would impact homeowners by $5 annually per $100,000 of taxable property value in the first year. Superintendent Carvahlo was a very vocal supporter of the bond proposal.

Another amendment proposed to put term limits on the Miami-Dade County Commissioners. The amendment sought to limit commissioner terms to just two terms of four years. Commissioners currently in office would not have past years counted towards the proposed limit.

With 691 of 829 precincts reporting, Miami-Dade voters had voted to institute term limits by a 77.28 percent to 22.72 percent margin.

Voters had to decide an amendment to the charter that dealt with the creation of new municipalities in Miami-Dade County. Specifically, the measure would require a two-step process for annexations or the creation of new cities.

First, the amendment would require the County Commission to determine the economic impact on the property taxes of unincorporated areas if a community becomes a city. Second, any area wanting to become a city would have to go through a petition process and create their own charter that must be approved through a ballot measure.

The amendment was barely passing with 691 of 829 precincts reporting, 52 percent to 47 percent.

Other ballot measures on the Miami-Dade County vote included:

A technical amendment to the home rule charter – passing by a 71.9 to 28.2 percent margin with 691 precincts reporting